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Italy buys Caravaggio painting for about $35 million, one of its largest payouts for a single work
ROME (AP) -- Italy has bought a rare portrait by baroque painter Caravaggio for 30 million euros (about $35 million), one of the largest state investments ever for a single artwork, the country's Culture Ministry said Tuesday. The portrait, painted around 1598 and attributed to Caravaggio in 1963, depicts Maffeo Barberini, a nobleman who later became Pope Urban VIII. The painting was acquired from a private collection by the Italian state after over a year of negotiations and will now enter Rome
March 11, 2026 -
FBI finds explosive residue in storage unit
NEW YORK (AP) — The FBI said Tuesday that it found explosive residue in a Pennsylvania storage unit as part of an investigation into two men charged with bringing homemade bombs to a protest outside the home of New York City’s mayor. Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, told police after their arrests that they were inspired by the Islamic State group, according to law enforcement officials and a criminal complaint. The men live in the Philadelphia suburbs and drove together to New York City
March 11, 2026 -
Shooting at US consulate in Toronto prompts increased security
Two men fired multiple shots at the US consulate in Toronto early Tuesday in what police described as a "national security incident," prompting beefed-up protection for US and Israeli diplomatic buildings in the Canadian city. The individuals approached the consulate in downtown Toronto at around 4:30 a.m., exited a white SUV and fired several rounds from a handgun at the consulate, Toronto police deputy chief Frank Barredo told reporters. There were people inside at the time, but "this building
March 11, 2026 -
Trump says Iran war could be over soon, but oil disruption would trigger harsher US strikes
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — US President Donald Trump said Monday that the war against Iran could be short-lived, but he left open the possibility of an escalation in fighting if global oil supplies are disrupted by the Islamic Republic, which chose a new hard-line supreme leader. Oil prices briefly shot to their highest level since 2022 a day after Iran selected Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his late father as Iran’s supreme leader. Investors saw it as a signal that Iran was digg
March 10, 2026 -
France to deploy dozen warships: Macron
PAPHOS, Cyprus (Reuters) -- France was deploying about a dozen naval vessels, including its aircraft carrier strike group, to the Mediterranean, Red Sea and potentially the Strait of Hormuz as part of defensive support to allies threatened by the conflict in the Middle East. Speaking in Cyprus before visiting the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, which arrived over the weekend in the eastern Mediterranean, President Emmanuel Macron sought to reassure his Cypriot counterpart after drones were
March 10, 2026 -
Swiss bar fire probe widens to five more local officials
GENEVA (AFP) -- Swiss prosecutors on Monday said five more current and former local officials were under criminal investigation over the New Year bar fire in the ski resort of Crans-Montana that killed 41 people. The prosecutor's office in southwestern Switzerland's Wallis canton, where the upmarket ski resort is located, declined to provide further details. However, a source close to the case confirmed to Agence France-Presse that the mayor of the Crans-Montana municipality, Nicolas Feraud, is
March 10, 2026 -
Much of Iran's uranium likely to be in Isfahan: Grossi
PARIS (Reuters) -- Almost half of Iran's uranium enriched to up to 60 percent purity, a short step from weapons-grade, was stored in a tunnel complex at Isfahan and is probably still there, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said Monday. The tunnel complex is the only target that appears not to have been badly damaged in attacks last June by Israel and the US on Iran's nuclear facilities. Diplomats have long said Isfahan has been used to store 60 percent uranium, which the International A
March 10, 2026 -
Trump's Gaza plan on hold as Iran war pauses disarmament talks, sources say
Talks to advance US President Donald Trump's plan to end the Gaza war have been on hold since last week when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran, sparking a broader Middle East war, three sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations said. The pause threatens to stall implementation of Trump's flagship Middle East peace initiative, which he has cast as a major foreign policy objective. It comes less than a month after he secured billions of dollars in pledges for Gaza from Gulf Arab sta
March 10, 2026 -
Colombia's President Petro wins in congressional election, but lacks majority to advance reforms
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The party of Colombian President Gustavo Petro secured a victory in congressional elections, but will have to build coalitions with other parties to carry out announced reforms, including a controversial push to rewrite the nation’s constitution. Petro's Historical Pact party won almost a quarter of all seats in the Senate Sunday, more than any other party. But its staunchest opponents also made gains, with the Democratic Center party — the conservative party led by forme
March 10, 2026 -
Paris Hilton launches recovery fund for women business owners after disasters
The pop culture star, advocate and entrepreneur Paris Hilton launched an initiative Monday to support female small-business owners impacted by disasters, a nationwide expansion of her philanthropic support for women entrepreneurs after the 2025 Los Angeles fires. Hilton is donating $350,000 to kick-start the Back in Business Recovery Fund, with a goal to raise at least $1 million by the end of March. "Women-owned businesses are really the heart of so many of these communities," Hilton told The A
March 10, 2026 -
Five Iranian women's soccer players granted humanitarian visas in Australia
SYDNEY (Reuters) -- Australia on Tuesday granted humanitarian visas to five Iranian women's soccer team players after they sought asylum fearing persecution in their home nation. The announcement came after US President Donald Trump said he had spoken to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about the Iran women's soccer team in Australia following reports that the players had requested asylum. The remaining players are in a hotel on the Gold Coast. Albanese said help is available to the ot
March 10, 2026 -
Israel strikes Beirut hotel as toll rises
BEIRUT (AFP) -- Israel struck a hotel in central Beirut Sunday, the first attack on the city centre since the start of the new war with Hezbollah, as Lebanon said nearly 400 people were killed over the past week. Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war Monday, when Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during US-Israeli strikes. Israel, which has kept up strikes targeting Hezbollah despite a 2024 ceasef
March 9, 2026 -
Police in Norway investigate an explosion outside the US Embassy in Oslo
Police in Norway were investigating an explosion early Sunday outside the US Embassy in Oslo, the capital of the Scandinavian country, officials said. No injuries were reported. Police received reports of a “loud bang” or explosion around 1 a.m., Oslo police said in a news release. The explosion was caused by some sort of incendiary device, according to Frode Larsen, leader of the Oslo police joint unit for investigation and intelligence. Investigators believe the embassy was the target and are
March 9, 2026 -
Israeli settler attack in West Bank kills three Palestinians
Palestinian authorities and the Israeli military said Sunday that three Palestinians were killed during an Israeli settler attack in the occupied West Bank, taking to 4 the number reported dead in such incidents over two days. Agence France-Presse journalists witnessed the funerals of the four men where relatives wept as mourners carried the bodies and chanted slogans. The spate of killings is the latest bloodshed as a result of violence that has soared in the West Bank since the start of the Ga
March 9, 2026 -
German state election deals blow to Merz: exit polls
The German Greens on Sunday beat Friedrich Merz's conservative CDU in a state poll, exit polls showed, marking a blow for the chancellor ahead of elections this year as polls show the far right surging. Almost 32 percent of voters opted for the Greens led by Cem Ozdemir, according to exit polls by broadcasters ARD and ZDF, edging out the CDU with around 30 percent. Updated exit polls for both broadcasters showed the far-right Alternative for Germany almost doubling its result compared with 2021
March 9, 2026